For Release: Tuesday, May 30, 2017
17-729-PHI
MID-ATLANTIC INFORMATION OFFICE: Philadelphia, Pa.
Technical information: (215) 597-3282 [email protected]
Media contact:
(215) 861-5600 [email protected]
www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic
Occupational Employment and Wages in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria –
May 2016
Workers in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean)
hourly wage of $32.69 in May 2016, 37 percent above the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after
testing for statistical significance, average wages in the local area were significantly higher than their
respective national averages in 21 of the 22 major occupational groups.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment shares were significantly higher in 9 of
the 22 occupational groups including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and
management. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national
representation; these groups included production; transportation and material moving; and office and
administrative support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance,
May 2016
Percent of total employment
Major occupational group
Total, all occupations ...................................
Management ...........................................
Business and financial operations...........
Computer and mathematical ...................
Architecture and engineering ..................
Life, physical, and social science ............
Community and social service.................
Legal........................................................
Education, training, and library................
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and
media.......................................................
Healthcare practitioners and technical ....
Healthcare support ..................................
Protective service ....................................
Food preparation and serving related .....
Building and grounds cleaning and
maintenance............................................
Personal care and service.......................
Sales and related ....................................
Office and administrative support............
Farming, fishing, and forestry..................
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
United
States
Mean hourly wage
United
States
Washington
Percent
difference (1)
Washington
100.0
5.1
5.2
3.0
1.8
0.8
1.4
0.8
6.2
100.0
7.6
9.9
7.3
2.0
2.1
1.3
2.2
6.2
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
$23.86
56.74
36.09
42.25
40.53
35.06
22.69
50.95
26.21
$32.69
68.50
44.27
50.13
48.65
48.42
28.00
68.02
30.75
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
37
21
23
19
20
38
23
34
17
1.4
2.4
*
28.07
36.76
*
31
5.9
2.9
2.4
9.2
4.8
2.1
2.9
8.3
*
*
*
*
38.06
14.65
22.03
11.47
44.74
16.20
27.16
12.79
*
*
*
*
18
11
23
12
3.2
3.5
*
13.47
14.27
*
6
3.2
10.4
15.7
0.3
2.9
8.6
13.3
0.1
*
*
*
*
12.74
19.50
17.91
13.37
14.91
21.74
21.13
17.75
*
*
*
*
17
11
18
33
Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance,
May 2016 - Continued
Percent of total employment
Major occupational group
Construction and extraction.....................
Installation, maintenance, and repair ......
Production ...............................................
Transportation and material moving ........
United
States
Mean hourly wage
United
States
Washington
4.0
3.9
6.5
6.9
3.7
3.0
1.7
4.2
*
*
*
*
23.51
22.45
17.88
17.34
Percent
difference (1)
Washington
23.85
25.57
20.04
19.58
*
*
*
1
14
12
13
Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area is above
the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90percent confidence level.
One occupational group—computer and mathematical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data
available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Washington had 223,490 jobs in the computer and
mathematical group, accounting for 7.3 percent of local area employment, significantly larger than the 3.0percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $50.13,
significantly higher than the national average of $42.25.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the computer and mathematical group in the Washington
area included application software developers (31,410) and computer systems analysts (28,040). Among the
higher paying jobs were computer and information research scientists and systems software developers,
with mean hourly wages of $60.48 and $58.14, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were
computer user support specialists ($29.31) and computer network support specialists ($38.16). (Detailed
occupational data for computer and mathematical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed
occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47900.htm.)
Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the
composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location
quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area as it does
nationally. In the Washington metropolitan area, above-average concentrations of employment were found
in nearly all of the detailed occupations within the computer and mathematical group. For instance,
information security analysts were employed at 5.5 times the national rate in Washington, and statisticians,
at 6.4 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, actuaries had a location quotient of 0.8 in Washington,
meaning the local employment share in this particular occupation was close to the national share.
These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative
program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the District of Columbia Department of
Employment Services, the Virginia Employment Commission, the Maryland Department of Labor,
Licensing, and Regulation, and WorkForce West Virginia.
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Note on Occupational Employment Statistics Data
A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has
economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make
confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference
between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the
size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.
Technical Note
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational
employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States.
The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries
combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions;
167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also
available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership
across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.
OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to
approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. The May 2016 estimates
are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November
2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for
the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments
and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled
establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national
employment. The sample in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area included
16,667 establishments with a response rate of 66 percent. For more information about OES concepts and
methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2016 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system
and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is
available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at
www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.
Metropolitan area definitions
The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S.
Office of Management and Budget.
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the
District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania,
Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and
Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties in
Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.
Additional information
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OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic. Answers to
frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed
technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement
on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request – Voice
phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
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Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation,
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016
Occupation (1)
Computer and mathematical occupations ....................
Computer and information research scientists .........
Computer systems analysts .....................................
Information security analysts....................................
Computer programmers ...........................................
Software developers, applications............................
Software developers, systems software...................
Web developers .......................................................
Database administrators ..........................................
Network and computer systems administrators .......
Computer network architects....................................
Computer user support specialists ...........................
Computer network support specialists .....................
Computer occupations, all other...............................
Actuaries ..................................................................
Mathematicians ........................................................
Operations research analysts...................................
Statisticians ..............................................................
Mathematical science occupations, all other............
Employment (2)
Level
Location quotient
Mean wage
(3)
223,490
3,400
28,040
11,660
9,400
31,410
27,400
4,910
5,630
20,260
10,580
18,980
8,450
29,680
340
290
7,830
4,660
2.5
5.9
2.3
5.5
1.6
1.8
3.1
1.7
2.3
2.5
3.1
1.4
2.1
5.2
0.8
4.9
3.3
6.4
(5)
(5)
Annual (4)
Hourly
$50.13
60.48
49.18
52.01
47.33
54.87
58.14
41.32
48.06
49.46
56.65
29.31
38.16
53.74
72.41
64.37
52.26
49.19
38.47
$104,280
125,800
102,290
108,170
98,440
114,130
120,930
85,950
99,960
102,870
117,830
60,970
79,360
111,780
150,610
133,890
108,710
102,310
80,020
Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://www.bls.gov/
oes/current/oes_47900.htm
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not
include self-employed workers.
(3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient
greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the
occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.
(4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those
occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(5) Estimates not released.
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